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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27970943">Let Me Find Another Way</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/thecompletebookworm/pseuds/thecompletebookworm'>thecompletebookworm</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Rumbelle Showdown [13]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Once Upon a Time (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Canon divergence that never really explains how it diverged, F/M, Rumbelle Showdown 2020 (Once Upon a Time), but this still feels like me scrambling to make prompts work when I didn't have any plot ideas, just some fluff, like they're soft, some light misogyny from minor character, we just jump around this mythical time line, why did you guys even let me into round 3?</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 10:29:06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,232</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27970943</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/thecompletebookworm/pseuds/thecompletebookworm</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Two times Belle sought to find another way to save the people she cares about.  Written for Rumbelle Showdown 2020 as Porcelain Elephants.  Prompts: Volunteer, stay out of it.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Belle/Rumplestiltskin | Mr. Gold</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Rumbelle Showdown [13]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/246934</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>7</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Let Me Find Another Way</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Papa.  This is insane!”</p><p>Belle felt the men of the War Room’s incredulous looks.  She shouldn’t be here by all accounts, and she certainly shouldn’t be contradicting her father’s plans.   But Belle had never been one to cower or change herself in order to match others’ expectations of her.   She drew her hand over the vellum of the old map, tracing the river the ogres had set up camp along.</p><p>“We’ll lose far too many men, and the area hasn’t even been evacuated yet.”   She looked at him imploringly.  "How many lives need to be lost?“  </p><p>One of Papa’s advisors, Sir Weselton, a small balding man and an unrivaled mustache, let out a sharp laugh.  “This is why women can’t be trusted, My Lord.  They’re too emotional.”</p><p>Belle glared at Weselton, attempting to use every inch of her small stature to intimidate him.  After all, Weselton wasn’t that much taller than she was, but his own ego propelled him to heights Belle couldn’t hope to reach.  "I seem to be the only one in this room who remembers what is at stake here.”</p><p>"You’re not the only one who’s lost someone, My Lady,” Their Captain of the Guard remarked.</p><p>Even though it felt like ages since Belle had cowered beneath the table of their library, Belle shuddered.  Even if her memory was clouded — a kindness her serving girl Meg had said, and while Belle did not wish to remember her mother being ripped limb from limb, she mourned the loss of her mother’s last moments — she still remembered the terror that made her blood run cold in her veins, the pounding of footsteps heavy enough to shake the castle even before they had entered, her silent prayers to whoever may be listening despite never truly believing anything the clerics had preached.   The last ogre attack had been too much for their Duchy to handle.</p><p>“Our forces must strike before the ogres have the chance to regroup.  It’s the only way.”  The Captain continued.</p><p>Despite knowing he had a point,  Belle continued to protest.  This plan would buy them little time, and they would be lucky if there were people to reclaim Avonlea after the ogres had passed through.   “I’ve seen the reports.  You can’t expect me to believe-”  </p><p>Lord Maurice pounded his fist on the table, causing several figurines to topple over and one of the senior advisors to startle out of his ill-timed nap.  "Enough! There is no perfect strategy.  We are fighting an unbeatable enemy.“</p><p>"But Papa, if I could find something-”  </p><p>Maurice barked at his steward. “Get my daughter out of here.  She has no business fighting this war.”</p><p>Belle shrugged off the hand that tried to forcibly escort her away and planted herself closer to the diagram.   Her steely blue eyes met her father’s.  If he intended to exclude her from the proceedings, he would have to force her to leave himself.  </p><p>Maurice sighed and made his way around the table.  He wrapped an arm around his daughter, leaning into her as if the weight of the war had already broken him. “Until the wedding has been finalized, Gaston is unwilling to provide more men or supplies.  So we must make do until he comes within the next fortnight.  And without further assistance, this is the best we can hope for.”</p><p>Belle kept her eyes on the map.  They likely did not have a fortnight, but her father was right on one account.   The only way her kingdom would survive the ogres was with outside help.  And she would be the one to find it, even if she had to scour the entire library and follow every whisper from the serving staff until she found a name of a creature so powerful they might stand a chance.  </p><p>Even if, in the end, it amounted to nothing, she had written the letter.  <em>Help! Help! We’re dying. Can you save us? </em>She found the way her father had not dared to hope for.  The words and offer of gold had come easy.  They said he would receive any letter sent by a desperate enough soul.  Belle felt the crushing weight of her people’s safety on her shoulders in addition to her own fear.   Her desperation should have been enough to attract him.</p><p>In the end, the man, for he was a man far more than he was a remorseless creature from the tales of old, had come, had pointed at her, and she had volunteered to give up her life without a second thought.</p>
<hr/><p>"What if I could help? Find another way back to your son?”  Her eyes pleaded with him.   “One that doesn’t need a curse?”  </p><p>Belle clasped his hands, rubbing them gently and refusing to shy away from his blackened nails, and leaned into him as they sat on the long wooden table where he had once forced her to serve his tea.  They often ended in this position when she uncovered the pieces of his soul and put them back together.  </p><p>Rumplestiltskin did not want to dismiss his love out of hand.  After all, their relationship was on shaky ground as it was. He had kicked her out.  He had been more willing to destroy her heart (and his own) than to actually listen to her.   But she had found her way back to him.</p><p><em>Just like I always will, you silly man.  </em> She had said when he had raised his fear with her once.   But he knew there would be a time when she wouldn’t.  </p><p>There were a thousand answers he could have given her instead.  He had searched for hundreds of years and found nothing.   But Rumplestiltskin had also searched for a way to separate himself from his curse, to once again be the Papa Baelfire deserved, for just as long and had found nothing until Belle had waltzed back into his life.  A simple kiss from her, and he would be free.</p><p>Although he thought it was unfair to call it a simple kiss.  Belle had found a way to do the unthinkable, to find the man inside the beast when he had doubted there had been any man left.  Their kiss had been gentle and tentative at first, her lips barely brushing his.  Yet every point where their bodies had touched had burned, their thighs, her fingers running through his hair and cradling his face.  She silenced the countless voices in his head until the world had shrunk to just the two of them.   Her kisses held the purest magic, the kind he would never truly deserve.  </p><p>Rumplestiltskin knew she had already done the impossible, done the impossible multiple times as she found her way back to him and continued to love him.  </p><p>“You constantly surprise me, Sweetheart.  I would love your help, but-”  He was the one to cradle her face this time.  "I can’t keep waiting for him.  If Regina finishes first…” His voice trailed off, the reality breaking him.</p><p>“I wouldn’t dream of keeping you from him.”  Belle lifted her fingers to her own lips to kiss before gently laying them against his.  “You’ve waited so long.  Just let me help.  Let me bear some of your burden.”</p><p>“What did I ever do to deserve you?”  </p><p>She laughed, one of his favorite sounds in the whole world.  “It isn’t about deserving Rumplestiltskin.  It’s my choice.  I chose forever.  I volunteered.”  </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I've hit a bit of writer's block so I'm transferring over the rest of my Rumbelle Showdown stories to hopefully get some inspiration from kudos/comments/reactions.  (And then feel guilty for it because, besides one Golden Lace prompt, they're not Rumbelle based so I'm using your love and support for the wrong things so to speak.)  </p><p>This was originally published for Round 2 of the 2020 Rumbelle Showdown as Porcelain Elephants.   Prompts:  Volunteer; stay out of it.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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